Former Super Eagles captain John Obi Mikel has taken his long-running criticism of Arsenal to a new level, accusing the club of cheating their way to the Premier League title and refusing to recognise them as worthy champions, Footynaija.com reports.
Mikel has been Arsenal’s most persistent critic all season. In September, he said flatly that Arsenal could not win the league and had no mentality of a champion. In October, with Arsenal top of the table, he did a U-turn and said it was their title to lose.
Now, after Arsenal beat Chelsea 2-1 at the Emirates recently, scoring both goals from corners, he has settled on a harder position than either of those.
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“They did win the game, but they were awful to watch. There was no creativity. They are cheating. Are you telling me those corner kicks are legal? Are you telling me Declan Rice grabbing Joao Pedro like that is legal?” he said in a report by TalkSPORT.
“It’s chaos, it’s a nightmare, it’s illegal. I know they’re desperate and everyone has tipped them to win it, but they’re cheating their way to a title. When you hold players and impede goalkeepers, it’s cheating, it’s a foul.”
He also questioned whether Arsenal’s spending justified winning in such a manner.
“You’ve spent nearly a billion, and you’re telling me the only way to win games is through corners? This is ridiculous,” Mikel added.
The irony has not been lost on those watching. Mikel scored one Premier League goal in 249 appearances for Chelsea, a career so defined by pragmatism that social media dug it up in response.
